Motor mounting bracket



Feb. 15, 1955 YOUNG 2,702,173

MOTOR MOUNTING BRACKET Filed July 9, 1953 H 5 INVENTOR.

- RALPH E. You/v0 BY ,f zg gg ,(M

V ATTOEZEKS United States Patent MOTOR MOUNTING BRACKET Ralph Young, Windsor, Ontario, Canada Application July 9, 1953, Serial No. 366,900

'12 Claims. (Cl. 248-4) This invention relates to a mounting bracket for an outboard motor. It is an object of this invention to provide a bracket of this type equipped with means for preventing the mounting screws from becoming loosened after the motor is secured on the stern of the boat.

In the drawings:

, Fig. 1 is a view, partly in section and partly in side elevation, showing an outboard motor mounted on a boat by means of the mounting bracket of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view showing the mounting bracket as seen from the inside of the boat.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detailed view of one of the clamping screws of the mounting bracket and turnbuckle assembly.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is illustrated a boat on which an outboard motor 12 is mounted by means of a mounting bracket 14. Bracket 14 is pivotally connected as at 16 with the frame of the motor, and an arcuate sector 18 on bracket 14 limits the extent of pivotal movement of the motor with respect to bracket 14.

Bracket 14 is generally of inverted U-shape having a bight portion 20 adapted to overlie the upper edge of the rear wall 22 of the boat, and having a relative short inner leg 24 which overlies the inner face of wall 22, and a relative longer outer leg 26 which is adapted to lie in coplanar engagement with the outer face of wall 22. For the purpose of rigidly mounting bracket 14 on wall 22 there is provided a pair of clamping screws 26. Screws 26 are provided at their inner ends with pads 28 and at their outer ends with handles 30 which are pivotly con nected with the screws as by pins 32.

Referring now to Fig. 2 it will be seen that screws 26 are disposed in spaced-apart relation at the lower end of leg 24 of the bracket. One of the screws 26 has a righthand threaded connection with a depending lug 34 on leg 24, and the other screw 26 has a left-hand threaded connection with its depending lug 34. With this arrangement it will be appreciated that in order to tighten both screws one screw must'be turned clockwise and the other counterclockwise. In other words both screws may be tightened or loosened by turning them in opposite directions.

For the purpose of retaining the screws 26 in their adjusted tightened position there is provided a turnbuckle W assembly generally deignated 36. Turnbuckle 36 includes two threaded rods 38 which are threadedly engaged in axially opposed relation with the opposite ends of a tubular nut 40. The outer ends of rods 38 are fashioned into hook members 42. The outer ends of handles 30 are provided with openings 44 for receiving the hook ends 42 of the threaded rods 38. The thread design of turnbuckle 36 is such that when tubular nut 40 is turned in one direction and the rods 38 are prevented from turning, both rods are either advanced into nut 40 or are moved in a direction axially away from each other.

In use the bracket 14 with the motor attached is mounted on the rear wall 22 of a boat in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1 and the screws 26 are tightened so that the pads 28 engage the inner face of the wall 22. As mentioned previously, these screws are tightened by turning one in one direction and the other in the opposite direction. The handles 30, being pivotly connected as by the pins 32 with the outer ends of screws 26, may when the screws are fully tightened, be disposed in the depending position illustrated in Fig. 2. It is not essential that these handles be disposed in this position however. They may be disposed in almost any position or the screws N 2,702,173 Patented Feb. 15,

may be tightened sufiiciently so that the handles will be disposed in a convenient position. After the screws are tightened the rods 38 are inserted, one through the openmgs 44 of each handle. The rods are then threadedly engaged with the tubular nut 40. This may be accomplished either by turning the rods individually or by holding the rods and turning nut 40 in the proper direction. As the rods 38 advance towards each other the hook portrons 42 may be engaged with the handles 30 to prevent rotation of rods 38 relative to the handles 30.

Turning of the nut 40 is continued until the slack between the turnbuckle assembly and the handles 30 is eliminated. With the assembly in this condition it will be observed that the screws 26 are effectively prevented from being turned either manually or accidentally as by jarring. The turnbuckle assembly 36 provides a rigid link between the handles 30 and screws 26 which prevents either screw from being turned by reason of the connection between the turnbuckle and the other screw. For example, assuming that the screw 26 at the left of Fig. 2 has a right-hand thread and the screw 26 at the right of Fig. 2 has a left-hand thread, then, in order to loosen these screws, the screw at the left must be turned in a counterclockwise direction and the screw at the right must be turned in a clockwise direction. The rigid link provided by the turnbuckle assembly 36 effectively prevents such turning of either screw. A slight amount of turning movement of both screws in the same direction may perhaps be permitted by turnbuckle 36, but it will be appreciated that although this will produce a slight loosening of one screw, the other screw will be more tightly secured. Thus if the screws 26 are originally tightened substantially turnbuckle 36 will prevent further turning thereof in either direction.

Although in the embodiment illustrated the means for preventing turning of the rods 38 when engaged with the handles 30 are shown as hook portions 42, it will be appreciated that these means are only illustrative of one of the many variousforms such means may take.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a mounting bracket for an outboard motor in which is incorporated a relatively inexpensive but extremely effective device which may be manipulated in a very simple manner to effectively prevent the clamping screws on the mounting bracket from becoming loosened after they are once tightened to secure the motor bracket on the boat.

I claim:

1. A mounting bracket for an outboard motor comprising a U-shaped clamp, a pair of spaced-apart clamping screws extending through one leg of the clamp and adjustable in a direction transversely of the other leg of the clamp, said screws being oppositely threaded on said first mentioned leg so that both screws may be advanced and retracted by turning them in opposite directions, handle means at the outer ends of the screws, and a turnbuckle assembly extending between and connecting said handle means.

2. A mounting bracket for an outboard motor comprising a generally U-shaped clamp having a pair of spaced-apart clamping screws thereon, said screws being disposed generally parallel and being' oppositely threaded on said clamp so that both screws are adjustable in the same directions by rotating them in opposite directions, said screws having handle members at their outer ends and a turnbuckle assembly detachably connected with said handle members.

3. The mounting bracket called for in claim 2 wherein said handle members extend transversely of the axes of the screws.

4. The mounting bracket called for in claim 3 wherein said turnbuckle assembly includes a pair of threaded rod members, one connected to each of said handle members.

5. The mounting bracket called for in claim 4 wherein said handle members and said threaded rod members are provided with means for preventing turning movement of said rod members relative to said handle members.

6. The mounting bracket called for in claim 5 wherein said handle members are provided with openings adjacent their outer ends, said threaded rod members being re movably engaged one in each of said openings.

7. The mounting bracket called for in claim 6 wherein said handle members are pivotly connected with said screws for movement about axesperpendicularly to the generally U-shaped clamp adapted to be mounted on a support such-as the wall of a boat with the bight portion of the clamp: extending. across the top edge of the wall and with the legs of the clamp extending downwardly over the'inner and outer faces of the wall, one leg of said clamp having spaced-apart clamp screws arranged thereon for threaded adjustment towards and away from the other leg of the clamp, said screws being oppositely threaded sovthat when both screws are turned in opposite directions they are advanced or retracted in the same direction, said screws being provided with handles at their outer ends,,said handles having portions offset from the axesof'said screws, a pair of threaded rod members, said rod members each beingconnected at one end with the offset portion of each handle, a nut having axially opposed. threaded openings at the opposite ends thereof, the other ends of said rods being threadedly engaged one within each of said threaded openings in said nut, said rods and said nut being threaded such that when the nut is turned in one directionthe rods are caused to advance towards each other and when turnedin the opposite direction the rods are caused to retreat axially from one another.

9. A mounting. bracket for an outboard motor com- 4 prising a generally U-shaped clamp having a pair of spaced-apart clamping screws thereon, said screws being disposed generally parallel and being oppositely threaded on said clamp so that both screws are adjustable in the same directions by rotating them in opposite directions, said screws having handle members at their outer. ends and means detachably interconnecting said handle members to prevent rotation of one of the handle members relative to the other.

10. A mounting bracketfor an outboard motor comprising a generally U-shaped clamp having a pair of spaced-apart clamping screws thereon, said screws being disposed generally parallel and being oppositely threaded on said clamp so that both screws are adjustable in the same directions by rotating them in opposite directions, said screws having handle members at their outer ends and means forming a rigid link extending between said handle members and releasably interconnecting them so as to prevent rotation of one of the handles relative to the other.

11. The combination settforth in claim 10 wherein said link is adjustable, in length to accommodate different positions. of said handles.

12. The combination set forth in claim 10 wherein said link. is adjustably contractible in length.

No references cited. 

